In summers past, the onset of the dry heat in north India was marked by desert coolers coming to life. Installed on stilts outside ground-floor windows, or perched precariously on ledges abutting upper-floor apartments, these coolers were distinctive contraptions — their cuboid bodies made of gray-green metal, and their fans filling the air with a loud mechanical hum.
Until the 1990s, desert coolers were the best weapon that middle-class families could wield against the summer. Air conditioners were too expensive, and they consumed too much costly electricity. Ceiling fans merely stirred the hot air.
Coolers, though, were cheap — just a couple of thousand rupees (Dh104) per unit, compared to the tens of thousands of rupees for an AC — and they guzzled very little power. With coolers, you were paying, really, only for a metal cage with an inbuilt fan. The slatted sides of the cage held mats of khus — a fragrant grass, called vetiver in English, which was employed even by Mughal kings five centuries ago for its cooling properties.
To use the desert cooler, a sixth of it is filled with water, and its khus mats drenched. The hot air outdoors cools as it passes through the mats into the cage. Then, as the water evaporates, the air within the cage cools further, and the fan blows that cool, moist air into the room.
“We started switching the coolers on in mid-April, and the next few months would be spent arguing about whose turn it was to top up the water inside,” said Aditya Arora, an accountant who grew up and lives in Delhi.
“You could really only use the cooler until June or July. After that, the monsoon set in, and the cooler’s air became too humid for comfort,” Mr Arora said. “But for those two or three months, the cooler made life bearable.”
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As Indian families grew wealthier over the past two decades, though, and as the prices of air conditioners dropped, the desert cooler began to disappear. That makes Muhammad Muzammil a member of a fast-dwindling tribe.
Mr Muzammil, 19, sells khus mats. His father started the business nearly two decades ago, and his customers included those who purchased new coolers and those who replaced their older, frazzled mats with fresh ones, as advised, every summer.
At the time, Mr Muzammil remembered, “my father used to sell 40,000 or 50,000 sets of mats in a single summer”. A set of mats costs between 200 and 400 rupees, depending on the size of the cooler.
Mr Muzammil buys the mats wholesale, from vendors in the suburb of Ghaziabad, where machines cut and compress the khus into compact mats.
But sales have shrunk as ACs have replaced coolers. Mr Muzammil and his father barely touch the 20,000 mark these years.
Other salesmen have it even worse. Mohammad Akram, who sells khus mats to households in Delhi’s suburb of Gurugram, manages just 2,000 to 3,000 sets a summer.
“The AC has become the norm,” Mr Akram said. “Even if families can’t afford to purchase one outright, they’ll buy it and pay in instalments.” His too is a family business. “My uncle used to do this, and I used to watch him as a kid,” he said. Now he wonders if the business will survive at all.
The khus business was always a seasonal one. Once the monsoon arrives, and through the rest of the year leading up to the following summer, Mr Muzammil works as a day labourer on construction sites.
He admits that desert coolers can be a nuisance to maintain.
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“Every year you need to buy these khus mats,” he said. “Then you have to refill these coolers with water every day or two.”
Water supplies become more erratic in Delhi’s fierce summer, so there’s little to spare for the cooler.
The stagnant water within the cooler also becomes a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
“People worry they’ll catch dengue,” Mr Muzammil said. Additionally, as peak summer temperatures have climbed over the past two decades, coolers have struggled to cope.
“Whereas with an AC, once you’ve installed it, then you don’t have to look after it anymore,” he said. The electricity bills are higher, of course, “but most people don’t seem to care about that these days”.
Desert coolers were best suited for residences, Mr Arora admits. It is difficult to imagine the large office complexes of modern Indian cities being kept cool by anything other than air conditioning.
Mr Arora’s family replaced their own desert coolers with ACs years ago, and he’s very glad for the icy breath that greets him when he comes indoors from the heat.
“But I still sometimes miss that sweet smell of khus in the summer,” he said. “It’s a nostalgia thing, I guess. It’s the smell of my childhood.”
What to watch out for:
Algae, waste coffee grounds and orange peels will be used in the pavilion's walls and gangways
The hulls of three ships will be used for the roof
The hulls will painted to make the largest Italian tricolour in the country’s history
Several pillars more than 20 metres high will support the structure
Roughly 15 tonnes of steel will be used
Ruwais timeline
1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established
1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants
1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed
1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.
1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex
2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea
2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd
2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens
2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies
2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export
2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.
2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery
2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital
2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13
Source: The National
Biog
Mr Kandhari is legally authorised to conduct marriages in the gurdwara
He has officiated weddings of Sikhs and people of different faiths from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Russia, the US and Canada
Father of two sons, grandfather of six
Plays golf once a week
Enjoys trying new holiday destinations with his wife and family
Walks for an hour every morning
Completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Loyola College, Chennai, India
2019 is a milestone because he completes 50 years in business
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
It
Director: Andres Muschietti
Starring: Bill Skarsgard, Jaeden Lieberher, Sophia Lillis, Chosen Jacobs, Jeremy Ray Taylor
Three stars
World record transfers
1. Kylian Mbappe - to Real Madrid in 2017/18 - €180 million (Dh770.4m - if a deal goes through)
2. Paul Pogba - to Manchester United in 2016/17 - €105m
3. Gareth Bale - to Real Madrid in 2013/14 - €101m
4. Cristiano Ronaldo - to Real Madrid in 2009/10 - €94m
5. Gonzalo Higuain - to Juventus in 2016/17 - €90m
6. Neymar - to Barcelona in 2013/14 - €88.2m
7. Romelu Lukaku - to Manchester United in 2017/18 - €84.7m
8. Luis Suarez - to Barcelona in 2014/15 - €81.72m
9. Angel di Maria - to Manchester United in 2014/15 - €75m
10. James Rodriguez - to Real Madrid in 2014/15 - €75m
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
Sam Smith
Where: du Arena, Abu Dhabi
When: Saturday November 24
Rating: 4/5
Company%20profile
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MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
CONCRETE COWBOY
Directed by: Ricky Staub
Starring: Idris Elba, Caleb McLaughlin, Jharrel Jerome
3.5/5 stars
The%20specs
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre turbo 4-cyl
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Power: 190bhp
Torque: 300Nm
Price: Dh169,900
On sale: now
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Scoreline
Syria 1-1 Australia
Syria Al Somah 85'
Australia Kruse 40'
New schools in Dubai
Bio
Age: 25
Town: Al Diqdaqah – Ras Al Khaimah
Education: Bachelors degree in mechanical engineering
Favourite colour: White
Favourite place in the UAE: Downtown Dubai
Favourite book: A Life in Administration by Ghazi Al Gosaibi.
First owned baking book: How to Be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson.
The%20Secret%20Kingdom%20
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Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
